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VG247.comSat, 01 Aug 2015 21:19:19 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.2EA to shutter The Sims Social and other Facebook gameshttp://www.vg247.com/2013/04/15/ea-to-shutter-the-sims-social-and-other-facebook-games/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/15/ea-to-shutter-the-sims-social-and-other-facebook-games/#commentsMon, 15 Apr 2013 12:18:01 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=358368The Sims Social, SimCity Social and Pet Society are all facing the chop, developer and publisher EA has confirmed. The company intends to close down all three games due to slumping player activity.

Update: Joystiq has asked EA if the game closures mean that developer PlayFish is being shuttered by the publisher, and was told by a rep that the company, “won’t be commenting on the status of Playfish.” We’ll have more as it comes.

Original Story:Eurogamer reports that in a statement, EA said it will retire its “older” Facebook games on June 14, despite The Sims Social launching a year ago. All three were developed by EA-owned studio PlayFish.

The full statement reads, “We had to make the difficult decision to close down The Sims Social so we can reallocate development resources to other titles that we hope you’ll have just as much fun playing. We hope you have gotten many hours of enjoyment out of the games and we thank you for everything you’ve added to the community.”

Will you be sorry to see any of the games go? Do you think the bubble for free social games is starting to swell towards bursting point? Let us know below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/15/ea-to-shutter-the-sims-social-and-other-facebook-games/feed/10EA and Zynga settle lawsuit over The Villehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/02/15/ea-and-zynga-settle-lawsuit-over-the-ville/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/15/ea-and-zynga-settle-lawsuit-over-the-ville/#commentsFri, 15 Feb 2013 19:39:36 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=340757EA and Zynga have settled over claims that the Zynga’s “The Ville” infringed on EA’s “The Sims Social,” reports Bloomberg. The report states the actual contents of the settlement were not reveled, only that both parties had reached a settlement. Back in August 2012, EA filed a copyright infringement suit over the social game maker’s Facebook game The Ville, claiming it “copied the original and distinctive expressive elements,” of The Sims Social. The following month, Zynga filed a countersuit stating the copyright infringement claim had “no merit” and was “anticompetitive” among other things. Zynga’s game was eventually shuttered last fall anyway, but not due to the lawsuit: it was because no one played the thing.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/15/ea-and-zynga-settle-lawsuit-over-the-ville/feed/1Zynga files countersuit against Electronic Arts over copyright infringement claimshttp://www.vg247.com/2012/09/15/zynga-files-countersuit-against-electronic-arts-over-copyright-infringement-claims/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/09/15/zynga-files-countersuit-against-electronic-arts-over-copyright-infringement-claims/#commentsSat, 15 Sep 2012 13:56:21 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=297582Zynga has filed a countersuit against Electronic Arts, stating the copyright infringement suit it filed over The Ville has “no merit. Zynga’s counterclaim accuses EA of being “anticompetitive” and using ” unlawful business practices, including legal threats.” John Reseburg, an EA spokesman, told the New York Times the countersuit was “predictable subterfuge aimed at diverting attention from Zynga’s persistent plagiarism of other artists and studios.” EA’s suit is based on the claim that Zynga’s The Ville infringes upon Maxis’ The Sims Social.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/09/15/zynga-files-countersuit-against-electronic-arts-over-copyright-infringement-claims/feed/0EA’s Sims lawsuit against Zynga is a “close call”: Wedbushhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/08/06/eas-sims-lawsuit-against-zynga-is-a-close-call-wedbush/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/06/eas-sims-lawsuit-against-zynga-is-a-close-call-wedbush/#commentsMon, 06 Aug 2012 12:57:13 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=283206EA’s Sims lawsuit against Zynga, which claims the social giant ripped off The Sims Social will its own The Ville, isn’t a clear win in the eyes of investment bank Wedbush Morgan.

“It is not clear to us that the mere emulation of a game concept constitutes a copyright infringement,” said Wedbush in a note today.

“The suit alleges willful infringement of EA’s copyrights, and alleges that EA has suffered from and will continue to suffer irreparable damage unless Zynga is enjoined from continuing to infringe upon EA’s copyrights.

“In our view, this is a close call.

“We are convinced that EA will press on with this lawsuit until it receives a jury verdict, and we think that sufficient controversy over the facts exists to preclude a grant of summary judgment.”

Wedbush isn’t the first to register some disquiet over the claim. Santa Clara University School of Law professor Eric Goldman said over the weekend that EA may be “playing with fire” with the case.

EA alleged that many specific items were copied from The Sims Social for The Ville, including the exact skin tones, the same ratio of home height to floor width, refrigerator dimensions, yoga mat patterns and more.

In a rundown of evidence comparing EA’s The Sims Social with Zynga’s The Ville, Business Insider published a snippet of EA’s suit which lists Schappert’s hire as evidence of Zynga’s shenanigans:

“In the spring and summer of 2011, when The Sims Social was in its final stages of development and EA was preparing its rollout, Zynga hired EA’s chief operating officer John Schappert to become Zynga’s chief operating officer. Mr Schappert was a 15-year veteran of EA. Mr Schappert was then the most senior executive responsible for EA’s online social gaming business. The online social gaming business reported directly to Mr Schappert, and he was directly responsible for designing and implementing EA’s competitive strategies in this market. As such, Mr Schappert had detailed, internal strategic plans and development related to EA’s effort to bring The Sims franchise to Facebook with The Sims Social.”

Possibly coincidentally, in the wake of Zynga’s recent financial reporting and subsequent stock dump, a rumour broke that Schappert had been pulled off game development.

This counter-intuitive move makes a lot more sense in the context of the lawsuit than it did before; industry analyst called the rumour “idiotic”, as The Ville, the first game produced under Schappert’s command, is going great guns.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/06/schappert-name-dropped-in-ea-vs-zynga-copycat-lawsuit/feed/0Legal expert says EA vs Zynga suit is “playing with fire”, settlement a likely outcomehttp://www.vg247.com/2012/08/04/legal-expert-says-ea-vs-zynga-suit-is-playing-with-fire-settlement-a-likely-outcome/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/04/legal-expert-says-ea-vs-zynga-suit-is-playing-with-fire-settlement-a-likely-outcome/#commentsSat, 04 Aug 2012 14:20:30 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=282900Santa Clara University School of Law Professor Eric Goldman has weighed in on the copyright infringement suit EA has brought against Zynga, stating that EA may be “playing with fire” in this case.

Speaking with Gamespot, Goldman, who specializes in Internet Law and Intellectual Property Law, said what stood out the most in EA’s complaint over The Ville copying The Sims Social, were “conspicuous changes” Zynga made to items similar in both titles.

Goldman specifically pointed to paragraph 94 of the complaint where EA notes a “toilet versus the toilet paper” issue.

“What Zynga took, and I don’t think they’re going to argue it, is that there’s a thought bubble that’s going to remind people about bathrooms,” he said. “But the thought bubble is shaped differently, and it’s a toilet [instead of] toilet paper. So can you take the idea of having a thought bubble to suggest that a character needs to go to the bathroom?

“I think that’s free for everyone to take. You can’t take the way it’s expressed, perhaps. That’s something that ultimately goes to the jury. These kind of game rip-off cases are very difficult. They’re hard to predict in advance. They tend to be quite costly. I don’t have a prediction on who got it right or who’s going to emerge victorious.”

Goldman said lawsuits such as this are rather rare in the games industry between the “big players” because copying of gameplay “is rampant in the industry.”

“I don’t know EA’s catalog well enough to know where they might be vulnerable on this point, but it’s kind of the way the entire industry is built,” he said. “All of the big players all have games in the same basic niches trying to provide the same basic gameplay. So there’s disincentive for any big player to try to break new law about the copying of gameplay. They might win that case, but it might blow up on all the other things they try to do in the rest of the catalog.

“[A settlement] would be a logical outcome because neither party wants to be proven wrong at the end. They both have incentives not to lose this case. One solution would be Zynga could go through and reprogram the things EA complained about so they look less alike.

Goldman continued, stating he though EA was “playing with fire here,” as it would not be in the firm’s best interest to “break new law and have an extensive interpretation of gameplay rip-offs.”

“I don’t see how that’s a win for them, so that’s another reason they might be motivated to settle,” he said.

Zynga should respond in kind to the suit within a few weeks or even months, but once the firm issues a formal response, the case could take months or even years rolling about in the judicial system before it reaches a “logical conclusion in the courts.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/04/legal-expert-says-ea-vs-zynga-suit-is-playing-with-fire-settlement-a-likely-outcome/feed/0EA slaps Zynga with a copyright infringement suit over Facebook game The Villehttp://www.vg247.com/2012/08/03/ea-files-copyright-infringement-suit-against-zyngas-facebook-game-the-ville/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/03/ea-files-copyright-infringement-suit-against-zyngas-facebook-game-the-ville/#commentsFri, 03 Aug 2012 18:18:01 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=282824EA has filed a lawsuit against Zynga over its Facebook game The Ville over copyright infringement. The firm said the causal game maker has “copied the original and distinctive expressive elements,” of The Sims Social.

“A case of principle”

According to Maxis GM Lucy Bradshaw, The Ville is in clear violation of US copyright laws.

“The legal reasons are solid,” she said on EA’s The Beat. “But for creative teams who feel that their hard work and imaginations have been ripped off, there’s obviously an emotional element too.

“When we launched The Sims Social in August 2011, Maxis brought the distinctive universe of our world-renowned franchise, The Sims, to Facebook. We created a game that allowed players to create Sims that can interact with the Sims of their Facebook friends. It was an instant hit, gaining tens of millions of users, many of whom continue to play the game after nearly a year since launch.

“As outlined in our complaint, when The Ville was introduced in June 2012, the infringement of The Sims Social was unmistakable to those of us at Maxis as well as to players and the industry at large. The similarities go well beyond any superficial resemblance. Zynga’s design choices, animations, visual arrangements and character motions and actions have been directly lifted from The Sims Social. The copying was so comprehensive that the two games are, to an uninitiated observer, largely indistinguishable. Scores of media and bloggers commented on the blatant mimicry.”

Bradshaw said the lawsuit is “a case of principle,” as Maxis isn’t the first studio to claim Zynga copied its creative product.

“We are the studio that has the financial and corporate resources to stand up and do something about it,” she said. “Infringing a developer’s copyright is not an acceptable practice in game development.

“By calling Zynga out on this illegal practice, we hope to have a secondary effect of protecting the rights of other creative studios who don’t have the resources to protect themselves.

“We are confident in our position, and that we will prevail, but even if we do not, we will have made a point.”

Zynga has been accusing of copying games before, and you can get a good idea of how deep the firm’s inspiration goes over on GamesNews.

An “ironic” lawsuit

Zynga general counsel Reggie Davis has responded to EA Maxis’ lawsuit against the firm as “ironic” and the firm plans to defend its rights “to the fullest extent possible.”

“We are committed to creating the most fun, innovative, social and engaging games in every major genre that our players enjoy,” he said. “The Ville is the newest game in our ‘ville’ franchise – it builds on every major innovation from our existing invest-and-express games dating back to YoVille and continuing through CityVille and CastleVille, and introduces a number of new social features and game mechanics not seen in social games today.

“It’s unfortunate that EA thought that this was an appropriate response to our game, and clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of basic copyright principles. It’s also ironic that EA brings this suit shortly after launching SimCity Social which bears an uncanny resemblance to Zynga’s CityVille game. Nonetheless, we plan to defend our rights to the fullest extent possible and intend to win with players.”

The Ville has been called similar to Sims Social by many reviewers, IndieSocialGames for one called it “very similar…[but] not a complete clone,” however, the reviewer felt the two were similar enough “to be worthy of mention” in the review.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2011/10/13/report-the-sims-social-biting-zynga-player-base/feed/0EA: Traditional retail outlets here for the “foreseeable future”http://www.vg247.com/2011/09/21/ea-traditional-retail-outlets-here-for-the-foreseeable-future/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/09/21/ea-traditional-retail-outlets-here-for-the-foreseeable-future/#commentsWed, 21 Sep 2011 07:05:54 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=204072In a tidy presentation to investors and analysts that will have rocked no boats whatsoever, EA has reaffirmed the crucial role of traditional high street retailers – for the foreseeable future, at least. At the same time, the publishing giant’s focus on digital distribution continues to grow.

EA CFO Eric Brown told those assembled at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference earlier this week that bricks and mortar retail stores have a crucial part to play in the future of video game retail, Gamasutra has reported.

“You need a retail partner to stock the consoles. I don’t see all consoles being ordered via mail,” he said. “There’s going to be people that go in and want to see the display, the form factors, etc.”

Hardware sales traditionally carry a low profit margin for retailers, but take up large areas of floor and shelf space. By stocking the games to sell alongside the consoles retailers can be incentivised to carry consoles, thus ensuring consumer appetite continues to be fed on the high street.

This balance was upset by Sony’s experiment with the PSPgo – that featured no physical media drive and therefore no additional profit opportunity for retailers – and led to some retailers refusing to stock the handheld console. The PSPgo was shelved by Sony earlier this year.

It’s a situation that Brown is well aware of.

“If you were to completely eliminate physical distribution of the disc, the margin opportunity is lost in the entire category. To the retailer, holistically it radically alters their view of the category,” he explained.

“So it’s for that reason that I just don’t see in the foreseeable future a complete shift to digital gaming delivery.”

EA’s own shift towards digital distribution took a step forward recently with the launch of its Origin online store. The popularity of Facebook title The Sims Social further bolstering confidence in the potential of physical media-less software delivery.

But it’s EA’s packaged good output over the last few years that best illustrates the publisher’s refocusing of its distribution strategy. Since its fiscal year 2009-10 EA has reduced the number of packaged titles from 67 to its current output of just 22.

“We feel that we’re in a pretty good spot” in terms of packaged game output,” said Brown. “It’s not to say that 22 is exactly the right number of titles, because that number could flex up or down a little bit, but it seems to be about in the right area at this point in time.”

Brown stated that the company’s focus for the next fiscal year is to increase the digital earning potential of more of its franchises to around that currently generated by its top two – FIFA and Battlefield have both attracted $50m worth of net digital revenue.

In this way, EA may be choose not to reduce its physical media output and risk upsetting its retail partners in its 2013 fiscal year, but instead increase profitability through the sale of virtual goods and services.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2011/09/21/ea-traditional-retail-outlets-here-for-the-foreseeable-future/feed/5Report – The Sims Social hits 50 million MAUhttp://www.vg247.com/2011/09/20/report-the-sims-social-hits-50-million-mau/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/09/20/report-the-sims-social-hits-50-million-mau/#commentsTue, 20 Sep 2011 11:30:35 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=203863According to information from AppData, The Sims Social has hit 50 million MAU (Monthly Active User) on Facebook. The site has the game is now the second biggest on any social site, with only Zynga’s CityVille being the bigger game in terms of MAU with 74.2 million MAU. It suggested recently that Sims Social was seeing 9.3 million DAUs.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2011/09/20/report-the-sims-social-hits-50-million-mau/feed/2The Sims Social bests FarmVille in daily active usershttp://www.vg247.com/2011/09/10/the-sims-social-bests-farmville-in-daily-active-users/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/09/10/the-sims-social-bests-farmville-in-daily-active-users/#commentsSat, 10 Sep 2011 13:43:48 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=201723EA’s The Sims Social has more daily active users than Zynga’s FarmVille, according to current information from AppData. It now has 9.3 million DAUs, moving Zynga’s FarmVille into second place. The later’s CityVille, is still the most popular game on Facebook though, with around 14 million DAUs. EA CFO Eric Brown told Gamasutra that Sims Social players log an average 15 to 20 minutes in the game three times a day. Currently, the game has over 34 million monthly active users, which is up considerably over September 7, when it was nearing the 30 million MAU mark.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2011/09/10/the-sims-social-bests-farmville-in-daily-active-users/feed/0EA pleased with Online Pass, Sims Socialhttp://www.vg247.com/2011/09/08/ea-pleased-with-online-pass-sims-social/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/09/08/ea-pleased-with-online-pass-sims-social/#commentsWed, 07 Sep 2011 23:59:09 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=201156Recent EA Digital initiatives – the Online Pass system and The Sims Social – have been successful for the mega-publisher.

“The revenues we derive from [Online Pass sales] haven’t been dramatic. I’d say they’re in the $10-$15 million range since we initiated the program,” EA CFO Eric Brown revealed, according to Gamasutra‘s report on the City 2011 Tech Conference.

However, Brown tempered any inference of negativity by describing it as “found revenue” – those who purchased Online Passes would previously have contributed nothing at all to EA’s coffers.

Elsewhere in the digital realm, Brown talked up EA’s excitement at the possibility of leveraging the recently acquired Popcap’s properties, but stopped to give a shout out to old sweetheart PlayFish.

The casual developers smash hit title The Sims Social is currently the second most popular game on Facebook behind Farmville, with a reported 7.8 million daily users – and currently, close to 30 million monthly. Players check in three times a day on average for around 15 minutes each time.

“What has made [The Sims Social] a success so far is the Playfish expertise combined with the creative excellence of the core Sims team. Those teams work together exceptionally well,” Brown said.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2011/09/08/ea-pleased-with-online-pass-sims-social/feed/0The Sims Social nearing 30 million MAUshttp://www.vg247.com/2011/09/07/the-sims-social-nearing-30-million-maus/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/09/07/the-sims-social-nearing-30-million-maus/#commentsWed, 07 Sep 2011 01:00:44 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=200940The Sims Social maintains its lead as the fastest growing game on Facebook, approaching a significant milestone.

Gamasutra‘s regular check up on the Facebook gaming scene has The Sims Social brushing the 30 million monthly average user mark just over a month after going into beta and three weeks after launch.

Around 7.5 million new players joined up in the last week.

EA’s spin-off is keeping ahead of Facebook favourites The Smurfs & Co and Farmville, both of which remain determinedly at second and third positions on the growth chart respectively.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2011/09/07/the-sims-social-nearing-30-million-maus/feed/1The Sims Social passes 7 million MAUshttp://www.vg247.com/2011/08/25/the-sims-social-passes-7-million-maus/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/08/25/the-sims-social-passes-7-million-maus/#commentsThu, 25 Aug 2011 01:05:43 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=198209As you may have noticed from its complete takeover of your social network feeds, The Sims Social is massively popular.

The casual adaptation of EA’s phenomenally successful virtual life game has topped 7 million monthly active users in just 15 days. The game has scored 4.4 out out of five based on 53,310 reviews.

Like many games of its kind, The Sims Social permits limited actions per day, with action pools refilling over time. Players can gain rewards by sharing news items, viewing others requests, or by purchasing in-game currency. As in the series it’s spun out from, players can build and upgrade virtual homes, improve skills, and even complete limited quests.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2011/08/25/the-sims-social-passes-7-million-maus/feed/0EA’s The Sims Social goes live with more than 4.8 million MAUshttp://www.vg247.com/2011/08/18/eas-the-sims-social-goes-live-with-more-than-4-8-million-maus/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/08/18/eas-the-sims-social-goes-live-with-more-than-4-8-million-maus/#commentsThu, 18 Aug 2011 22:29:14 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=196944EA has announced The Sims Social as gone live after a public beta period, and already after only a week, the game has 4,859,046 monthly average users.

Created by The Sims Studio and Playfish for Facebook, the game is part of EA’s new strategy for its new games as a service model, and has been in development since October.

“When we created The Sims Social, it was important for us to incorporate the deep gameplay nuances The Sims Studio has perfected and leverage what Playfish does best – develop compelling, cutting-edge social-gaming experiences,” said Playfish’s London Studio’s GM John Earner.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2011/08/18/eas-the-sims-social-goes-live-with-more-than-4-8-million-maus/feed/0The Sims Social gets new dev diaryhttp://www.vg247.com/2011/08/04/the-sims-social-gets-new-dev-diary/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/08/04/the-sims-social-gets-new-dev-diary/#commentsThu, 04 Aug 2011 06:24:42 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=191616EA’s released a dev diary for The Sims Social. Announced at E3 during the publisher’s press conference in June, the video shows off in detail the Facebook game. You can get it below the break, via D’Toid. There’s no date for its release other than just coming soon.